Palestine Monetary Authority Signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ramallah Municipality to Join the National Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment System, E-SADAD

The Palestine Monetary Authority and Ramallah Municipality signed, today, a memorandum of understanding to join the National Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment System, E-SADAD.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Dr. Feras Melhem, Governor and Chairman of Palestine Monetary Authority, and Mr. Issa Kassis, Mayor of Ramallah. Mr. Nader Salhi, General Manager of the Palestinian Payment Services Company, also attended the signing, as were members of the Ramallah Municipal Council, Izzat Halawa, Lubna Farahat and Khaldoun Abu Al-Hummus. In addition to Ramallah City Director Ahmed Abu Laban, a number of directors at the PMA and Ramallah Municipality's heads of information technology, finance and media.

The MoU requires Ramallah Municipality to join the E-SADAD system, which is a central system under the supervision and management of the PMA, which provides the service of electronically presenting and paying bills through various electronic payment channels, while linking all payment service providers (banks, payment service companies) with the various billable sectors in Palestine.

Dr. Melhem, for his part, confirmed that the signing of this memorandum falls within the framework of the PMA's constant endeavors to innovate tools, legislation and systems that contribute to accelerating Palestine's transition from a conventional to a digital society, keeping pace with global financial technology development and increasing confidence and security in electronic payments in Palestine. 

The Governor explained that the E-SADAD system would constitute a quantum leap in electronic payment mechanisms in Palestine, providing a single platform that allows citizens, around the clock, to inquire about all of their bills and pay them easily through banking interfaces, applications and E-wallets. These bills include government and city fees, university tuition, public utility, telecommunications and Internet sectors, all while ensuring data confidentiality by employing the highest security and privacy standards.

The Governor stated that the system will allow billable sectors to limit their transactions to a single connection point, making it accessible to all banks and payment service companies. The foregoing facilitates the process of reconciliations electronically and instantly with all electronic payment service providers, and contributes to the reduction of operational and development expenses, as well as the collection period for funds related to bills and the costs of account reconciliation procedures.

Dr. Melhem congratulated Ramallah Municipality for being the first billable sector to join the E-SADAD system, as well as for its ongoing efforts to develop tools that make it easier for citizens to complete their financial transactions electronically.

"Ramallah Municipality is proud of its distinguished partnership with Palestine Monetary Authority, especially since the joint projects and programs between the two institutions are in the interest of serving citizens and facilitating procedures for them," said Ramallah Mayor Issa Qassis. He added, "We are pleased that our collaboration with the PMA resulted in the activation of billing for Ramallah municipality on the E-SADAD system. We are, now, the first billable institution on this promising platform, and I value the PMA's efforts in establishing it and realizing this qualitative leap in e-payment procedures."

Kassis went on to say that Ramallah Municipality is a model for promoting work on digital transformation programs, as our goal has become to shift to the digital language in line with our advanced steps in the fields of e-services, e-payment and digital means of communication. The most recent of which is updating and launching our electronic application for smart devices.